The Tale of Konoha's Weapon Master
by tanner12391
Summary: Follow the tale of Tanner Musso, the son of the mighty Musso clan of Konoha! Watch his legend unfold as he strives to become one of the best shinobi Konohagakure has ever seen.
1. Chapter 1

The Tales of Konoha's Weapon Master

Prologue:

Twelve years ago, during the warm month of June, a baby boy is being born in the Konoha hospital. This boy is being born unto Ishibo and Yanura Mosso. The Mosso Cllan is known for their proficiency in weaponry in and outside of the walls of Konoha. The child is also the cousin of Tenten Mosso, a kunoichi five years older than him. The proud father and mother have just been informed that their child is healthy; however, Yanura has lost much blood, and will die in a matter of minutes.

"Ishibo, get me our son. I would like to see him one last time." Ishibo nodded with tears in his eyes as he walked over to the medical ninja who was holding the child. The ninja saw the pain in Ishibo's eyes as he handed over the new-born to him. He gave him a look of sympathy but knew that it did nothing to ease his pain. The father handed the small child to Yanura.

"What do you want to name him?" Ishibo asked her.

"I think Tanner would be a fitting name."

Ishibo nodded his agreement. He wasn't going to argue with her. He saw that it was fitting that she picked out the name of their child, since she was the one losing her life. For the next few minutes, the trio never moved and never spoke. Having the child was like a double edged sword: Ishibo was gaining a son but losing his lover.  
"Tanner, Ishibo, I will always love you. Never forget that. I hope I will see you again sometime!" Yanura spoke her last words. Ishibo silently wept as he watched his wife become still and saw the life slip from her eyes. Tanner seemed to sense that something was wrong too, for he started bawling for the first time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Exams

Twelve years later Tanner Mosso was just waking from a deep slumber. He was very excited because his academy graduation was today. Since Tenten's graduation and after the events following their current Hokage Naruto, the academy has upped their standards. First, you had a Ninjutsu portion where you had to perform the henge, kage bunshin, and the kawamari. Next, you had taijutsu. Weapons and hand-to-hand combat were used here against one of the academy teachers. If they deemed you ready, then you would move on to the Genjutsu portion. You just had to be able to see through and release the weak genjutsu set on one of the rooms. If you completed all these tasks then you would be given a leaf headband and be placed on a genin team. Tanner was so excited that he ran out of his bedroom door, realized he didn't have a shirt on, then ran back inside. '_It would probably be smart to get dressed first,' _he thought to himself. He then proceeded to go through his morning routine. When Tanner came out of his room, he had on navy blue anbu-styled ninja pants and a black sleeveless shirt with elbow length mesh armor underneath. It was his usual outfit and it complimented his blue eyes, brown hair, and tall frame rather nicely. Tanner hoped that by the end of the day he would have a leaf headband added to his attire. Treading quietly down the hallway he walked until he reached the kitchen. On the mahogany table in the kitchen, Tanner spotted a white note. He picked it up and read what it had to say. On the note was written:

_"Tanner,_

_I'm sorry that I will not be home today to see you, especially on what could possibly be one of the biggest days of your life. I am away on a mission to the Hidden Sand Village, and should be back within a week's time. Hopefully when I return you will be a full-fledged shinobi of our village. Good luck!_

_ Sincerely,_

_ Dad"_

Tanner was a little upset that his father would not be there to see if he would graduate or not, but his dad was a shinobi and had to do his job. Tanner turned away from the note and went towards the cabinets in the kitchen. He got a bowl and put some cereal and milk in it and sat down to eat his breakfast. After finishing his breakfast, Tanner put his bowl in the sink and put on his black shinobi sandals. When he opened the door he ended up on his butt from bumping into something. He heard a thud followed by a moan. Tanner then stood up and looked over the steps leading up to the front door of the Mosso Clan home. Laying on the ground in front of the steps was none other than his cousin Tenten.

"Hey, sorry about that," Tanner apologized as he pulled Tenten up off the ground.

"No harm done," she replied. "I just thought that I should come and tell you good luck before I went to the training fields. After all, I have the Jonin selection exams in a few days!"

"Thanks, and good luck with your exams. Wow! I'm becoming a genin and you a jonin. Kind of neat isn't it?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself. You still have to pass, as do I. Though I have to be truthful: I'm not worried at all. I mean, we're the Mosso clan after all."

Tanner nodded and waved Tenten goodbye before locking the door and heading on to the academy. He walked in silence, many emotions building up within his mind. Anxiety, nervousness, and excitement were all mixed into one. It gave Tanner a weird feeling in his stomach. Finally, Tanner reached the academy. He walked through the main doors and then took two flights of stairs up to the third floor. From there he went to find room 302. As he slid open the bamboo door of his classroom he noticed that he was one of the first ninja-hopefuls to reach the room. He waved to Iruka, his teacher, then went on to sit in a seat four rows back. On his left in the window-seat was Hinabi Hyuga, a prodigy even by her clan's standards. Tanner debated whether he wanted to be on the same team as Hinabi or not. It's not like he could pick who was on his team anyways. The room slowly filled up as more and more students filed into the room. As the last person entered the room, the bell rang, signaling for class to start. Iruka stood up and looked at every single one of the tweens inside the room.

"Okay, now as you all know today you will be taking your graduation exams. It will be broken down into three parts. Now, when I call your name, go into room 303 to take the first part of the exam. If you pass, come back here. If you fail, leave and go on home and will stay one more year in the academy. Does everyone understand?" Everybody shook their heads as they continued to listen carefully to Iruka. "Okay now first up we have Anmaru Heet." Said person stood up and went out into the hallway. Many people were called out in this manner until it was Tanner's turn. As they called his name, he stood up and began walking towards the door.

"Good luck." Tanner whirled around and found none other than Hinabi. He had a shocked look on his face since the Hyuga girl was usually stoic and quiet. She just smirked and turned back around to look out the window. Tanner just sighed and rolled his eyes as he continued to walk out the door. He turned to his right after reaching the hallway and then continued walking as he searched for room 303. Once he found the room he entered and saw another teacher from the academy, Ms. Haruno. She looked at him with her bubblegum pink hair and green eyes as still as prominent as ever.

"Ok, I assume you were informed which jutsus you were to perform?" She asked. He nodded and stood in the middle of the room. "OK. Start with the clone, then substitution, and then the transformation." He nodded once again and then started making hand signs.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," He yelled as his chakra built up. There was a puff of smoke as four replicas of Tanner appeared. Ms. Haruno nodded and then waved her hand telling him to continue. The clones dispelled and Tanner began forming hand signs again. Another poof of smoke followed as Tanner replaced himself with the log in the corner of the room. He then walked back over to the log and picked it up to place it back where it belonged. Tanner turned back around and looked at Ms. Haruno. With another spike in chakra and another poof of smoke Tanner turned himself into a flawless recreation of Ms. Haruno.

"Ok, that's all. Return to your room to await the taijutsu portion of the exam." Tanner waved goodbye to her and returned to room 302 with a smile on his face. He sat back down next to Hinabi who smirked as the two waited to take the next part of the test. All of the students ended up going to take the first part of the test with only three failing. Tanner then landed his eyes back on Iruka as he began to address them yet again.

"Now that everyone has taken the first portion of the test we will move on to the second part: hand-to-hand combat. Now if you would kindly follow me to the training field we will begin." The sound of scraping chairs was loud in the room as everyone stood up to follow Iruka so that they could take the second part of the test. As they filed them out onto the open field that was surrounded by targets they could clearly see ten academy teachers standing in the field. "You will now be taking the taijutsu portion of the test. Split up into groups of four and find a teacher. You will then proceed to fight the academy teacher using only weapons and hand-to-hand combat. If the teacher thinks that you are ready then you will move on to the third and final portion of the exam. Now go find an academy teacher." They all nodded as they randomly picked a teacher. Tanner walked over to the teacher on the far left of the training field. He realized that it was his absolute favorite teacher in the world: Mr. Balboa. Mr. Balboa had Tanner's taijutsu instructor for all of his years in the academy. He was nice and kind but pushed you to your limits while sparing.

"Well if it isn't Tanner! Are you ready for another spar?" Mr. Balboa asked.

"You bet I am! You're going down Balboa sensei!" Balboa only smiled and then shifted into a defensive stance.

"Whenever you're ready," Mr. Balboa said. Tanner only nodded as he pulled out three kunai in his right hand. "Still using your weapons I see. I suppose you still possess your deadly accuracy?" Tanner nodded once again, as he was already zoned in on his prey. In one swift motion Tanner flung the kunai with the precision of an assassin right at Mr. Balboa's torso. However, Balboa wasn't a chunin for nothing. He jumped backwards while pulling out his own kunai knife. Right when Tanner's knives were about to slice into him, his arm shot forward and knocked them aside with his own. He then threw the knife at Tanner who had to jump to the side to avoid being hit. Tanner pulled out his summoning scroll and made a half ram seal while throwing the scroll into the air. The parchment unrolled and faced Balboa. With a poof of smoke around two-hundred weapons were unleashed against the instructor. Kunai, shuriken, and senbon were all hurled through the sky. With the grace of a puma Balboa twirled, ducked, and rolled through the metal barrage and avoided being hit in any vital places. As he came to rest a mere five feet away from Tanner he smiled and then disappeared in a flash of speed. Tanner felt himself being flung backwards by a flying side kick. He landed in a heap around five yards away and pulled himself up onto his feet. Within moments Balboa was directly in front of Tanner and was swinging a punch that was headed towards his gut. Tanner's reflexes kicked in as he jumped backwards although he was not able to avoid the whole impact of the punch. He grunted as he skidded backwards a little ways. Tanner finally found time to pull out a few shuriken from the pouch on the side his right leg. With deadly precision he threw the shuriken. Balboa was stumped for a second as to why the shuriken never came close to hitting him.

"Did the might Tanner actually miss for the first time?" Balboa asked, his voice heavily laced in sarcasm. Tanner only smirked and then Balboa noticed the thin, metal wires attached to the shuriken. '_So that was his plan after all. What a clever boy!" _Balboa thought to himself. He held up his hand signaling for Tanner to drop the senbon he had pulled out. "I think you are more than ready to become a genin. Congratulations on passing the second portion of the academy graduations exam!"

"Thank you Balboa sensei!" Balboa nodded and waved goodbye to Tanner as he started picking pieces of metal out of his body. Tanner went back inside where Iruka and a few others were waiting. Hinabi was one of the ones already inside. He sat by her and rested his head on the top of the table. He dozed off for a few minutes until all who passed the second part came into the room. The second portion had whittled their numbers down from forty-five to thirty-three. It was then that Iruka decided to speak up.

"For those of you who have passed the second part of the test, congratulations. We will now commence the third and final portion of the exam: genjutsu. When your name is called, proceed to the third floor where you will try to find and release the illusion that has been set over the floor. To avoid cheating, after you are finished go out into the courtyard and wait until the bell rings where you will all come back inside to meet you sensei and your team. Feel free to eat your lunch while you are out in the courtyard." Iruka then started rattling off names. Tanner waited until he heard his name, and once he had he walked down to the second floor where he immediately began looking for the illusion. After being unable to find it, he then decided to try a different approach. He made the tiger seal and shouted "Kai," while releasing an outburst of chakra. He then immediately saw what had been layered with genjutsu: there was a pink vase sitting on one of the tables that didn't belong. That certain vase belonged on the first floor.

"You have now passed the third portion of the exams. Here is your headband and congratulations. Go eat lunch while we tally up your skills and place you on teams." It was the first time the proctor had spoken during the entire time Tanner had been down there. He paid no mind to it and instead nodded his thanks and placed the headband on his forehead. He was finally a true shinobi of Konohagakure! Tanner walked out onto the Courtyard with a smile on his face that you couldn't possibly dream of wiping off.


End file.
